Lightning 3 - 5 Senators
Final
  for this game

Senators hold off Lightning

Mar 23, 2013 - 11:13 PM Ottawa, ON (Sports Network) - Jakob Silfverberg had a goal and an assist in a big first period to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Daniel Alfredsson scored twice while Eric Gryba and Guillaume Latendresse each had goals for the Senators, who have won four of their last five. Robin Lehner stopped 29 shots in the win.

"We kind of let them get back into it there at the end," said Alfredsson. "Letting a team get momentum at any point of the game is never good, we have to work on clamping down a little better."

Tyler Johnson scored twice and Teddy Purcell also had a goal for the Lightning, who have lost their past two games.

"We can't dwell on anything right now," said Johnson. "No one is feeling sorry for us, we just have to get things together and get a win, that's all there is to it."

Mathieu Garon didn't make it out of the first period as he gave up three goals on 11 shots while Cedrick Desjardins was charged with just one goal on 20 shots the rest of the way.

The latter half of the first period saw the Senators turn it on, starting at 12:49 as Marc Methot picked off a bad pass at the left point and let it fly with a shot that was tipped in by Silfverberg.

Less than two minutes later, it was a 2-0 game as Kyle Turris drew all the defenders to him by drifting over to the right boards and fired a pass back to the slot where an uncovered Gryba one-timed it home for his first NHL goal.

Ottawa chased Garon from the net with three minutes to play in the first period as Latendresse chipped the puck in from a sharp angle at the right side as he was falling to the ice.

His replacement didn't fare much better as Alfredsson fired a shot from the left circle that was blocked by a defender, but the puck came back to him and he snapped it in with just 9.1 seconds to play in the opening period.

The second period passed without a goal as did the first half of the third period, but then the Lightning made it interesting.

Johnson got his team on the board with 8:23 to play as Eric Brewer sent a pass from the high slot to the front of the net where an uncovered Johnson re- directed it in.

Just over two minutes later, Johnson was again on the spot to snap home a feed from Matt Carle to make it a two-goal game.

With 1:59 to play, the Lightning cut their deficit to one as Purcell's snap shot from the right circle deflected off a body in front and went in.

The Senators, though, clamped down on defense and Alfredsson put the puck in the empty net with 20.3 seconds to play to seal the win.

Game Notes

Ottawa defenseman Sergei Gonchar has a 10-game point streak and has totaled one goal and 14 assists during the run ... Ottawa hosts New Jersey on Monday ... Tampa Bay wraps up its three-game road trip in Winnipeg on Sunday ... Tampa Bay had taken a 6-4 win over Ottawa at home on Jan. 25 ... Tampa Bay Lightning and forward Nate Thompson agreed to terms on a four-year contract extension on Saturday.






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